Evidence map›Paper›PMID 27757026›Full record

Trial reportClinical interventions in aging2016

Vitamin E administration may decrease the incidence of pneumonia in elderly males.

Harri Hemilä

Open access · goldAbstract readRandomized Controlled Trial
In one paragraph

Trial report in Clinical interventions in aging, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 47 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
47citing papers in PubMed, 3 pooled it
1.7field-weighted citation impact, top 18% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

47 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 91 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Pooled it
  4. Trial
  5. Article
  6. Survey of tocopherol and the associated genetic loci in wheat grain.TAG. Theoretical and applied genetics. Theoretische und angewandte Genetik · 2025
    Review
  7. Review
  8. The "Magnificent Seven" in Oral and Systemic Health against COVID-19.Endocrine, metabolic & immune disorders drug targets · 2025
    Review
  9. Article
  10. Review
  11. Scientific opinion on the tolerable upper intake level for vitamin E.EFSA journal. European Food Safety Authority · 2024
    Article
  12. Article
  13. [Vitamins and Immune System Health].Sichuan da xue xue bao. Yi xue ban = Journal of Sichuan University. Medical science edition · 2023
    Review
  14. Article
  15. The Role of Vitamin E in Thermal Burn Injuries, Infection, and Sepsis: A Review.Journal of burn care & research : official publication of the American Burn Association · 2022
    Review
  16. Article
  17. Review
  18. Review
  19. Review
  20. Molecular mechanisms and therapeutic effects of different vitamins and minerals in COVID-19 patients.Journal of trace elements in medicine and biology : organ of the Society for Minerals and Trace Elements (GMS) · 2022
    Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

1 author at 1 institution in 1 country.

Harri HemiläDepartment of Public Health, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.
University of Helsinki · FI

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundVitamin E has influenced the immune system in laboratory studies. Dozens of animal experiments have found that vitamin E offered protection against infections caused by viruses and bacteria. Previously, significant heterogeneity was found in the effect of vitamin E supplementation on pneumonia in humans. The aim of this study was to examine how the effect of vitamin E on pneumonia risk depends on age.

methodsSecondary analysis of the Alpha-Tocopherol, Beta-Carotene Cancer Prevention study in Finland, 1985-1993, was performed. Participants were male smokers aged 50-69 years at the baseline who started to smoke at ≥21 years (N=7,469). Intervention was 50 mg/d of vitamin E for 5-8 years. The outcome was the incidence of hospital-treated, community-acquired pneumonia by the age at the follow-up.

resultsAmong 2,216 participants who smoked 5-19 cigarettes per day at baseline and exercised at leisure time, vitamin E supplementation reduced the incidence of pneumonia by 69% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 43%-83%; 57 pneumonia cases). In this subgroup, vitamin E prevented pneumonia in 12.9% of participants by the age of 74 years. Among 5,253 participants who smoked ≥20 cigarettes per day at baseline or did not exercise, the incidence of pneumonia was 14% lower in the vitamin E participants (95% CI: -38% to +21%; 139 cases). One-third of the participants quit smoking for a period, of whom 27 got pneumonia. The incidence of pneumonia was 72% (95% CI: 31%-89%) lower in the vitamin E group, and this benefit was also seen among those males who smoked ≥20 cigarettes per day at baseline or did not exercise.

conclusionAlthough the evidence of benefit from vitamin E against pneumonia in elderly males is strong in this analysis, the overall findings about vitamin E have been complex. Further research on vitamin E in nonsmoking elderly males is warranted.

Indexed as

Agedalpha-Tocopherolbeta CaroteneCommunity-Acquired InfectionsDietary SupplementsExerciseFinlandFollow-Up StudiesHumansIncidenceKaplan-Meier EstimateLeisure ActivitiesMaleMiddle AgedPneumoniaRisk Assessmentalpha-Tocopherolbeta CaroteneVitamin Eantioxidantsexerciserandomized controlled trialrespiratory tract infectionssmoking

Identifiers

PMID27757026
PMCPMC5055121
OpenAlexW2528573856

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC
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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.